Letter from Fr Alvaro Corcuera encourages young volunteers to embrace the life of faith and God’s plan for their holiness.

"The life of faith helps us to open our horizons, to see our life as God sees it."

December 29, 2010. In a Christmas letter addressed to the
young men and women who volunteer one or several years
as Regnum Christi coworkers (also called Mission Corps volunteers), Fr
Alvaro Corcuera encourages them to make the most of their
time by letting God lead.

“Dear coworkers, we all have a
special path to the holiness to which God calls us.
Only in prayer and closeness to him in the Eucharist
can we discover this path,” he writes.

“Being holy is
the best way we can help the Church and the
immense mission of evangelizing culture and society. Do not be
afraid of the holiness God is asking of you.”

The complete
letter is printed below and can also be downloaded in
pdf format here.

***

Thy Kingdom Come!

ALVARO
CORCUERA, L.C.

December 21, 2010

To the Regnum Christi coworkers

Very dear friends in Christ,

I write these words of
greeting with a lot of joy, hoping that they find
you full of the peace and happiness that come from
dedicating our lives to proclaiming the Gospel. First of all,
I would like to thank you in all sincerity for
the example of generous self-giving that you give us each
day. Among the countless possibilities that you had, you chose
to dedicate a year or more of your lives to
God, sacrificing your studies, families, friendships, etc. I am sure
that your self-giving has eternal value in God’s eyes.

I
also thank you for the trust you have had in
God’s plan through Regnum Christi. We are not living through
an easy period and you have not been afraid of
the misunderstanding or the criticisms that may sometimes come with
being coworkers in the Movement. All of these difficulties have
to lead us to focus more on Christ and try
to respond to him with greater holiness of life, no
matter where our work takes us.

Just as in previous
years, I would like to take advantage of this occasion
to reflect with you on some points that can help
you to get the most out of this period as
coworkers, and especially these days before Christmas. A few months
ago, the Holy Father wrote a message to the youth
as a preparation for the World Youth Day that will
take place in Madrid next August. In his message, the
Pope told them:

“The victory born of faith is that of
love. There have been, and still are, many Christians who
are living witnesses of the power of faith that is
expressed in charity. They have been peacemakers, promoters of justice
and workers for a more humane world, a world in
accordance with God’s plan. With competence and professionalism, they have
been committed in different sectors of the life of society,
contributing effectively to the welfare of all. The charity that
comes from faith led them to offer concrete witness by
their actions and words. Christ is not a treasure meant
for us alone; he is the most precious treasure we
have, one that is meant to be shared with others.
In our age of globalization, be witnesses of Christian hope
all over the world. How many people long to receive
this hope!” (cf. Pope Benedict XVI, Message for XXVI World
Youth Day, August 6, 2010).

I think that these beautiful
words can help us to understand the meaning of being
a coworker. It is a marvelous time to form ourselves
and to grow spiritually, especially in the theological virtues. The
life of faith helps us to open our horizons, to
see our life as God sees it, to transform our
criteria so that they will be more in accordance with
Christ’s criteria in the Gospel. Thus, under this perspective of
faith, an apostolic failure, an unexpected assignment or change of
assignment, a “scolding” from my director, or even my own
defects or internal difficulties that I might be going through
can become an opportunity to grow, to cling more tightly
to Christ and his grace.

This is the experience of
the great saints. A few weeks ago, I had the
opportunity to see a movie about the life of St
Philip Neri. The movie showed us a man of joyful
and simple character who could easily have let himself be
carried away by superficiality; nevertheless, he was able to trust
in Christ and put his good humor at the service
of the Gospel. Even his relationship with God was permeated
with that humor. Dear coworkers, we all have a special
path to the holiness to which God calls us. Only
in prayer and closeness to him in the Eucharist can
we discover this path. Being holy is the best way
we can help the Church and the immense mission of
evangelizing culture and society. Do not be afraid of the
holiness God is asking of you.

In this sense, the
Movement puts within your reach a great variety of means
that can help you to grow in holiness. I invite
you to value them and make maximum use of them.
Think about the grace of being able to receive Christ
in the Eucharist every day, or of having access to
a good confessor and a good spiritual director. Remember that
being a coworker is not a goal, but rather a
period of time that God gives you to mature in
your vocation to holiness, to form yourselves as apostles of
Christ within the Movement, and to strengthen your Christian convictions
in faith, hope, and charity so that you can be
true torches, beacons of light in the midst of the
darkness in which so many people live. Christ calls us
with urgency, just as the Holy Father tells us, to
be witnesses of that victory of Love in our personal
life and in the life of Regnum Christi.

In conclusion,
I would like to thank you again for your self-giving
and the example of generosity that you give us every
day. I encourage you to place your apostolates in Mary’s
hands and to learn from her to love your souls
and give yourselves without reservations to the mission God has
entrusted to you.

With a constant remembrance in my prayers,
I remain yours affectionately in Christ and your servant,